We have been raving about 245 Lenox Avenue's facade restoration and the guys have really been detailed with the exterior ornamentation (last photo). The brick stack (at top) that was the base of the newels at the end of stoop also recently got stuccoed and detailed (middle). What's lucky about this situation is that the contractors had something to look at to duplicate the details but what if there aren't any references around? A reader asked us recently is there a way to get a photo of one's house from 50+ years ago for a detail reference? Home renovators will be happy to hear that New York City keeps a tax photo record of all older homes, and photos can be retrieved from the 1940's and the 1980's. We would stick with getting the 1940's copy for the most accuracy. Small copies are $35 and larger sets are $50 (which might be better for detail). Check out the NYC Tax Photograph site here: LINK. Read more about 245 Lenox in our past post: LINK.
Lovely work.
ReplyDeleteThank you - great work as always Ulysses. I just ordered images of my brownstone. Seeing the old cars parked in front of these buildings is also part of the fun!
ReplyDeleteThere was an article in This Old House magazine on replicating details like this using latex castings to copy and create a mold and recast a matching detail. Beautiful work and a great HB story.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely going to order both dates of photos. Interested in seeing my house in the 80s. Believe it was a bombed out shell.
ReplyDeleteThanx for the tip!